Twincast / Podcast Episode #56 "Grand Maximus"

The Seibertron.comTwincast/Podcast is proud to present our latest episode, featuring host Counterpunch and fellow podcasters Jon3.0, Tigertracks 24, Razorclaw0000 and special guest Blurrz. The episode is available directly and in our RSS Feed and should appear on iTunes in 24 to 48 hours.

And they were right, the green one is a bit Wheeljacky...thank goodness they didn't actually do that and give it a proper head or I mighta been tempted to drop the $100+ on it. Kinda hilarious if that's the supposed Fort Max fig. But I feel the same about this kind of shit as I do over-saturated, over-priced 3rd Party product...I'm happy when they make it an easy pass.

Got myself a TRU MP Optimus Prime and I've been torn on whether or not to get the Takara version. Both are really good and have reasons to buy each. Both have little details that make me want the other version. If I could afford to, I would create a mash up of the best possible MP Prime. Obviously this is not feasible for me and the Hasbro version is much less expensive. I have sorta talked myself into keeping this one and saving myself some cash. He's certainly good enough for what I need from him. Podcast thoughts?

::EDIT::
The iGear specialists, yeah those panels are shit. I also don't know where to put the figures. They're far too large to be Classics and I don't need MP Ironhide or Ratchet. That's where they'd fit best. They're nice but I actually had some buyer remorse over them.

Flux Convoy wrote:Got myself a TRU MP Optimus Prime and I've been torn on whether or not to get the Takara version. Both are really good and have reasons to buy each. Both have little details that make me want the other version. If I could afford to, I would create a mash up of the best possible MP Prime. Obviously this is not feasible for me and the Hasbro version is much less expensive. I have sorta talked myself into keeping this one and saving myself some cash. He's certainly good enough for what I need from him. Podcast thoughts?

Stick with the Hasbro version. The Takara one is a premium figure with only the cab lights missing, but isn't worth $150 more than what you have.

Flux Convoy wrote:
::EDIT::
The iGear specialists, yeah those panels are shit. I also don't know where to put the figures. They're far too large to be Classics and I don't need MP Ironhide or Ratchet. That's where they'd fit best. They're nice but I actually had some buyer remorse over them.

The problem is Classics Optimus Prime is just too small. These are pretty much the same height as Grapple and Inferno, which according to the infamous scale chart are the same height as Ratchet and Ironhide. So from that perspective, they'd be right on for Classics. I suppose it's easier to swallow a firetruck or crane truck being bigger than Prime, though. But scale is totally shot in the Classics line anyhow, especially on the Con side.

I dunno man. Classics in general is pretty decently scaled IMO. Even with all the 3rd party stuff that helps fill out my collection. These guys, they just really disappointed me. Panels on the legs that have nowhere to go. The silly rotating waist bits. The leg panels I already mentioned that are unnecessarily awkward to transform. The large panels on the back of the arms. The pieces on the back of the waist that are meant to fold in but don't unless you apply some kinda scary pressure. The panels behind the head that just flop around if you transform then pertaining to the instructions. Even if they were meant to be the same size as Grapple, the proportions just don't look right IMO. Look, I am a huge fan of the designer but I do not like these toys. On the plus side, they comes with tons of stuff. I think I'm just over this era of needlessly complicated Transformers. These are that to me. So many moving parts that really only move for the sake of moving.

Oh and uh, I opened up that Masterpiece Prime. Man he is a cool piece of toy. He just looks right.

To each their own, I guess. I'm a little uncomfortable with how fragile they seem to be in some spots, but other than that I think they're pretty incredible figures, despite some of the legitimate 'flaws', or areas for improvement, you pointed out that prevent them from being perfect. But what fig doesn't have something that could be a little better? I think there are easily as many 'flaws' with MP-10, if not a couple more. I think Takara will have their work cut out for them to come up with better representations for the MP line if they go there, though, and the Classics versions...don't think we even need to go there.

Kibble wrote:To each their own, I guess. I'm a little uncomfortable with how fragile they seem to be in some spots, but other than that I think they're pretty incredible figures, despite some of the legitimate 'flaws', or areas for improvement, you pointed out that prevent them from being perfect. But what fig doesn't have something that could be a little better? I think there are easily as many 'flaws' with MP-10, if not a couple more. I think Takara will have their work cut out for them to come up with better representations for the MP line if they go there, though, and the Classics versions...don't think we even need to go there.

For the sake of not derailing this much further I'm gonna add my response and leave it at that. Feel free to PM if you want to continue this.

You mention MP Optimus Prime having as many flaws but there's only one thing I see that is out of place on him. It's the tanks on his legs. The rest of him seems to blend almost perfectly with no loose hanging panels or um.... kibble, heh. If Takara gets much further with the MP line, I can't say I will stick with it. I cancelled Sideswipe. The character means nothing to me. He looks pretty sweet but he has flaws that were the final straw for me on completing a(n) MP line of Transformers. Soundwave, yes. Great, I love him. The biggest names I am in for. I'd flip for Galvatron, Shockwave and a new Megatron. I'd lose it over a proper Ultra Magnus, Swoop or the rest of the Dinobots. Beyond those, it'd be hard for me to care.

I dunno, I don't think having a civil, constructive (at least I think so) discussion about figures talked about in the podcast is derailing the thread...and the thread seems to be all but dead otherwise anyhow so it's probably not doing any harm.

As for MP-10, keep in mind I do like the figure despite what I'm about to say and my 'complaints' in some cases are a bit nitpicky, but I find the following less than ideal...

Not sure if you meant the business that covers the wheels when you said tanks or if you're talking the actual chromed tanks themselves, but the wheel boxes on the legs I don't like. The arms are disproportioned, the forearms are too long and gorilla-like. The faux-grill on his stomach is a bit too long. His feet, though better in person, are still more 'ducky' than I'd like. And maybe taking it a bit far, but I think the thighs are a bit too rounded and look more like they belong on a He-Man figure than on Optimus Prime. Alt mode, the back section is entirely too thick and the side windows are too small. Honestly, I think MP-01/04 has a better and more accurate bot mode, and while MP-10 has a much better alt mode overall, it's not perfect.

Yeah, the kibble flaps on Ironhide and Ratchet don't belong, but sometimes (aka pretty much always) some minor concessions are required for the sake of the figure being able to transform...like wheel box covers on legs, too long of forearms, or the back of the semi being 3x as thick as it should be.

Also, FWIW, not sure how recently you got the Van Bros, but while I was impressed with them right out of the box, they did grow on me. I thought they were cool right away, but I think they're pretty rad now. Like I said, I'm not sure these figures for these characters will be topped.

Sorry, I've been in Halo lockdown mode since the release. Good info to have on these being fair game for discussions. So uh, who do we estimate is gonna get a Defensor out first? I realize some 3rd party group has got to have him in their long plans at least. I'm not wanting to lay out money for the GDO Hot Spot when I know I'll just be replacing it sooner or later. I did pick up Sandstorm for the homage. He was cheap. I get the feeling we'll see the rest of the triple changers eventually too though. As nice as Warbot Defender is and Assaulter looks, I have faith FansProject could pull those off extremely well.

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